ID: 1979
Presenting Author: Kingsley Ukaegbu
Session: 615 - Public trust in regulatory systems and environmental assessment.
Status: pending
The study shows how transparent EIAs in Africa’s extractive sector can build public trust, emphasizing disclosure, engagement, & monitoring as essential for credible governance & sustainable developme
Public trust remains one of the weakest links in environmental assessment practice across Africa’s extractive sector. Although many Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) meet regulatory requirements, stakeholders often perceive them as mere compliance checklists rather than credible instruments.
This paper examines how EIA processes can be repositioned as trust-building mechanisms that enable responsible financing of extractive projects, drawing on empirical lessons from EIAs conducted in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The study reviews selected EIAs for upstream and midstream projects undertaken between 2018 and 2024. Using a mixed qualitative approach—including report analyses, stakeholder feedback reviews, and institutional interviews. The study identifies how disclosure practices, participatory engagement, and verification of data influence stakeholder trust.
Key findings indicate that while several EIAs demonstrated progress with more transparent data-sharing practices, significant trust gaps remain. About 70% of stakeholder respondents reported inadequate grievance mechanisms and limited opportunities for feedback during Environmental Management Plan implementation. Inconsistent disclosure and weak follow-up reporting were found to reinforce perceptions of opacity.
The paper argues that public trust is not a by-product of compliance but an outcome of transparent management systems, credible engagement, and sustained post-EIA monitoring and communication. It proposes a governance model linking EIA implementation, ESG disclosure, and financing due diligence.
Kingsley Ukaegbu is an Environmental & Social Development Specialist at IFC, driving sustainable financing in Africa’s private sectors through ESG advisory, stakeholder engagement, and trust-building.
Coauthor 1: Constance Omawumi Kola-Lawal